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Reduced Seasonal Hours

What You Need to Know:

While recognizing the need for a balanced work life during the summer and winter months and desiring to more effectively utilize the University's resources during slower periods, it may be possible for some departments to consider reducing an employee's regular work hours, at the employee's request, during the summer and/or winter months. Department operations cannot suffer due to the approval of reduced seasonal hours and additional positions cannot be added to assist with the completion of work.

Eligibility

Regular, clinically non-essential, full-time staff employees, exempt or non-exempt, who have successfully completed the new hire orientation period, are eligible to apply for reduced seasonal hours. Approval of a reduced seasonal hours program is at the discretion of department management and administration.

Options

A regular employee with a FTE of 0.75 or greater may request leave without pay from May 3, 2015 through August 22, 2015 and/or December 6, 2015 through January 16, 2016; Leave must be taken in full-week increments.

Regular staff members with a full-time equivalent (FTE) of greater than 0.75 may request a temporary reduced work schedule to no less than 0.75

Please note that campus/non-UKHC employees should not request Season Hours -- Unpaid leave the week of January 5 as this falls immediately after the University Special Holidays (Bonus Days). As indicated in the Holiday Leave policy, employees must be in a paid status on a scheduled day immediately before and after the holiday in order to be paid for the holiday.

Process:

Application for Reduced Seasonal Hours

Applications to request reduced seasonal hours must be submitted using the online FlexWork Request Form. The form will go to the director of Work-Life as well as to the employee's supervisor. The supervisor is responsible for reviewing and responding to the employee and the Office of Work-Life indicating whether the request is approved, denied, or needs modification.

Please note that the Office of Work-Life manages and supports the Reduced Seasonal Hours program, but does not approve or deny requests; once an employee has his/her supervisor's approval, they may begin their reduced seasonal hours.

An employee who requests and is approved for a leave without pay from May 3, 2015 through August 22, 2015 and/or December 6, 2015 through January 16, 2016 or for any period within this time frame will be considered to be on voluntary leave and is not eligible for unemployment compensation.

Vacation and temporary disability leave (TDL) will not accrue during this time period. An employee on leave without pay will not be entitled to holiday leave.

An employee who requests and is approved for a reduced work schedule will remain a regular employee.

The employee's pay rate will be reduced on a pro-rated percentage relative to the FTE reduction.

Vacation, TDL, and holiday will accrue on a pro-rated percentage relative to the FTE reduction.

Depending on a leave without pay or a reduction in FTE, the employee's benefits will be adjusted accordingly.

Department Management/Administration

The business officer in the employee's department will execute a "Position Update" action in SAP to update the employee's record. Detailed instructions may be found in the HR Reference manual.

At the end of the agreed upon leave, the business officer will execute the same action and bring the employee back to the original status, FTE and pay rate.

Because the seasonal hours assignment is a temporary accommodation, there will be no need to change the attributes of the position.

An employee's health benefits premiums will be "caught up" retroactively when the employee returns to active status.